“Tonight we have shown you can campaign on the power of positive ideas and not be drawn into the politics of personal destruction,” said Straus, who is popular with moderate Republicans.

Straus focuses on the fiscal side of his GOP conservatism and has never been embraced by social conservative Republicans.

Some of the more hard-core GOP conservatives also have not forgiven Straus for challenging incumbent and controversial House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, before the 2009 legislative session.

Conservative groups and some of the chamber's Craddick faction tried to unseat Straus before the 2011 session but could muster little more than some pesky noise.

Those groups then tried a new tack by urging Beebe to take on Straus in his own district and waged a campaign that tried to portray Straus as a liberal amid claims that Bexar County Democrats were crossing over to support Straus in the GOP primary.

But district voters disregarded the verbal barbs aimed at Straus and re-elected him to what likely will be his fifth term. There is no Democrat running against him in the November general election.

“As speaker of the House, I will continue to provide respectful leadership that allows all voices to be heard,” Straus said, saying he wants to improve education and make the state more “even more attractive for jobs and industry.”

In House District 125, former San Antonio city councilman Justin Rodriguez sailed to an easy victory in the Democratic primary over his former council colleague Delicia Herrera, whose late negative attack ads appeared to have little effect.

Having served in nonpartisan positions in the past, including on the San Antonio Independent School District board, Rodriguez said he appeals not only to Democrats but to independent voters and moderate Republicans, too.

Rodriguez said during the primary, he knocked on as many doors as possible, sometimes talking to the same voters two or three times.

“I personally block-walked 4,000 or 5,000 homes, and so to me, it was really the grass-roots effort on our part to get out, talk to folks,” he said.